Okagakure, 5:00
Early morning in the Hidden Hill was quiet,
undisturbed by any noise except for Yoichi's footsteps
as he made his way to his destination in the First Quarter.
Tall and thin, he was a young man, with black hair that barely touched his shoulders.
His brown eyes watched the blackness of the night,
watched for Spiders. It would not do to have another encounter,
especially with his wounds from the recent skirmish.
He was still amazed at his luck. To have the Kage himself back you up... He chuckled silently.
He wondered how Kuria had known what was happening.
Had he simply stumbled upon it, or had he... No.
He couldn't have known that was going to happen.
But if not, then what had he been doing out tonight?
Strange questions, ones he didn't have the answer to.
Did it really matter? It had worked in his favor.
A shame about Miku's leg, but that would heal in time.
Besides, now he could complete his task... Helping a sick friend.
He looked up, suprised. He had reached his destination,
and in less time than he thought it would take.
In front of him loomed a house, black against the night. There was no light inside.
He walked up to the door, and knocked. To his suprise, the door was ajar.
He immediately sensed danger. Leaning inside, he loosened the axe strapped to his back.
He debated wether to call out,
but decided against it on the off chance the apparent intruder was still in there.
Better to take him in now than let him get away.
He held his breath and slipped inside the house.
Early morning in the Hidden Hill was quiet, undisturbed by any noise at all.
Then, for just a moment, a quiet cry could be heard.
But only for a moment.
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Okagakure, some time after Kuria's rise to Kage:
When the Old Kage had died,
the village had lacked a leader for a short time before a new one was elected-
A mere boy, 12 years old. In the wake of the Old Kage's death,
many people believed that the youth lacked the strength necessary to lead the village,
and feared that other villages would soon attack the disorganized Okagakure.
A group of citizens decided that the village might have to protect itself if they were attacked
while the Hill shinobi were divided and weak. All of them being ninja academy rejects,
they began applying what little they knew to teach crude ninjutsu to those who would learn.
These new arrivals, either those who had never entered the academy,
or who had lacked the talent necessary and been passed over at a young age,
were therefore weak when compared to ordinary shinobi.
However, their growing numbers were starting to make them a competent force.
This group called themselves the Akai Kumo, and led by a man named Aiko Yori,
they called for the incompetent youth to step down and
let another shinobi better suited to the job take charge.
Eventually, some of these vigilantes began noticing that the "incompetent"
Kage was stronger and wiser than he appeared.
These individuals were cast out of the group,
whereupon they formed their own small organization.
This splinter group, headed by a woman named Masumi,
began training others who took their side and stood up for the new Kage,
calling themselves the Gurīnhaundo. The animosity between the two groups grew,
until the feuding spread all over the village and exploded in a gigantic, widespread battle,
various clashes taking place between the detractors and supporters of the young Kage.
The aforementioned Kage immediately saw he had to take action,
before the conflict weakened the village. Kuria gathered his own shinobi,
clad in the black of the Okagakure Anbu, and headed out into the fray,
culimating in the defeat and capture of the two leaders.
A trial was held, as the village tried to decide what to do with the two.
Some called for exile, others demanded that their rogue teachings be outlawed.
All were utterly suprised, but none more so than the two on trial
when Kuria announced that they would be allowed to stay,
and that their groups would remain intact,
on the condition that they each move to a separate end quarter of the city.
Kuria had realized their potential; Not only could they serve as a sort of reserve army
in the event that the village walls were breached,
but with them given separate quarters of the Hill,
they could police those areas themselves,
leaving him free to concentrate his own shinobi on keeping peace in the middle.
However, although they had made a grudging truce with each other,
the animosity remained between the two groups,
and the two sides guarded their territories jealously during the night.
It was not safe for a Spider to step onto the Gurīnhaundo's turf during that time,
and vice versa.
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Okagakure, 6:30
The night had been entertaining, but had also brought up a troubling issue.
As was his nightly habit, he had been out wandering around the city with two Anbu in tow,
enjoying the cool air rushing against his skin.
Then he had heard the sounds of a fight, and sighed inwardly.
*Another skirmish between idiots*, he thought.
Once, the Akai Kumo and the Gurīnhaundo had actually
had a specific goal in mind- protecting the village.
But since the city-wide clash and him relocating them to the First and Fourth Quarters,
they appeared to have devolved into mere gangs for lack of direction.
All they seemed to care about was protecting their territories at night.
And now this. After he had settled the fight and hospitalized the attacking Akai Kumo,
he was informed that apparently they were attempting to move further into the village.
Were they not content with what he had given them?
Perhaps it was time to pay Yori a visit.
He leapt over the rooftops of the Hill, streaking through the night air,
light from the setting moon painting his skin pale white.
Yori resided in the First Quarter, at the very western end of Okagakure,
smack-dab in the middle of his group's territory.
He had taken to residing in the tallest building there, a four-story eyerie.
The man had developed something of a swollen head.
Instead of viewing what he had been gifted as a responsibility, as he should,
he instead thought of himself as being some sort of...mini-Kage.
And to think he was the one who had originally trained others to protect the Hill.
Kuria had reached the eyerie, and stood on a rooftop across from it,
pondering how he should go about this visit,
when an arm reached over his shoulder and he felt a kunai pressed against his throat.
A deep, gravelly voice ordered "Put your hands behind your back. You're coming with me."
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Okagakure, 7:00
Yori was sleeping in his bed,
huddled up under the sheets in the former nesting area of the eyerie.
He did not care what others thought of him for dwelling up here.
The view of the village was magnificient.
Besides, he was the leader of the Akai Kumo,
given the First Quarter by the Kage himself, and if anybody
had an issue with that they could go and-
*SMASH*
Yori jolted awake, looking around wildly,
then stared at the high ceiling of the eyerie, trying to gather his thoughts.
He could swear he had just heard a faint explosion-like sound,
as of concrete being crushed by a sledgehammer.
The man closed his eyes and listened. He couldn't hear anything at all. Calming his nerves,
he slipped out of bed, putting on a nearby nightrobe over his bedclothes.
He was middle-aged, with pale skin, shoulder length brown hair, and blue eyes.
Perhaps it was just a dream. He walked over to the fridge across the room
and opened it, selected a plate of leftover steak, and took it out.
He turned around and immediately dropped it, breaking the dish. His face blanched.
In front of him stood a boy of 12, with short-cut navy blue hair and large gray eyes.
His arms were crossed and he bore an impassive expression on his face.
Though he was a full foot shorter than Yori,
that counted for nothing when you considered the fact
that this boy had gained the position of Kage, and displayed a frightening aptitude for it.
Kuria smiled. "Good evening, Yori."
Yori swallowed and licked his lips. "Kage."
"We need to talk." Kuria stated. Yori's thoughts raced. *About what?* He nodded his head quickly. "Of course, Kage.
Allow me to get dressed-" "No." Kuria cut him off flatly. "We talk now."
Yori would have been indignant at any other time,
but chose to go along in this particular situation.
"What is it?" he asked. Kuria walked over to the table and chairs near the door to the eyerie.
"Have a seat." He said. Yori obliged.
Now sitting across from him, Kuria leaned forward ever so slightly.
"I happened upon a skirmish in the Second Quarter last night between one of your people and two of the Gurīnhaundo."
"So?" Yori asked incredulously. This was what the Kage had broken into his bedroom for?
"They shouldn't have been walking around in our territory at night-"
"The Second Quarter, Yori." Kuria interrupted.
Yori froze, shocked. "The...the Second Quarter?"
"Yes. Albeit only slightly, but still.
I only remember giving you this end of the village to watch over."
"It...it must have been a mistake. If it was only a small ways outside of the Quarter-"
"Yes, I thought that too.
Then I heard apparently your man mentioned that they were moving in."
"And who told you this?" Kuria was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"The two Gurīnhaundo who were attacked."
Yori's face was incredulous, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.
"And you believed them? They must have been lying to you."
Kuria's face was impassive again. "Perhaps, but they seemed truthful to me."
The adult protested, "Will you really take their word without evidence?"
Kuria pondered for a moment, then decided. "No, I suppose I can't."
He stood up to leave, but looked at Yori. His eyes were cold.
"In the future, try to keep your men in check. Do not forget who gave you what you have."
He walked over to the eyerie window, crouched on the sill,
then twisted around to look at Yori, an apologetic smile on his face.
"Oh, sorry about your agent down there. You may want to take care of it." With that, he leaped out into the night.
Yori walked to the window and saw what the Kage had meant.
Below him, the rooftop across from the building he was in
bore a spiderweb of gigantic cracks from the force of a tremendous impact.
In the center of it lay one of his men. Several other Akai Kumo had began to make their way up to the roof to investigate the sound themselves.
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Okagakure, 7:30
Kuria flew through the sky,
the fingers of dawn creeping over the horizon with the night's end.
With pink light beginning to infuse the sky and hide the stars,
he pondered what he had learned.
Yori knew absolutely nothing about what had happened, it seemed.
But if that was the case, why had the Akai Kumo spoken of it?
He did not believe that the two- Yoichi and the girl - had lied to him.
They'd seemed grateful to be rescued. But if the Akai Kumo were moving in,
and hadn't told Yori about it... It seemed possible.
The Spiders may have chafed under Yori's leadership once they had become a mere territorial gang.
But he had no evidence to support that theory. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop,
with the air rushing past his face, he decided to wait and bide his time.
He would watch for what came next.
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Okagakure, 8:00
In the dim light of the early morning,
a figure slipped out of the window of a house in the First Quarter.
Dropping into the alley below, he tucked something away in his vest,
then moved away, vanishing into the neighborhood.
Next part coming soon.
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